Chimpanzee Versus Humans: Similarities & Differences

Chimpanzee versus Humans: Similarities & Differences

Since the first days of human thought into their beginnings, chimpanzees have played a vital role in showing who we were. The chimpanzee, one of the great apes, makes it home in the forests of Central and West Africa. Their long arms and legs adapt them for living in such regions as lowland jungles and mountainous regions. Humans are classified in the order Primates, and family

Hominade. Within this family, human beings, our nearest living relatives, the

African apes, are also placed. Though in some classification standards, apes are placed in the family Pongidae.

The defining characteristic of Hominids is their ability to walk bipedally, using two feet and walking upright. This form of movement lead to many adaptations within the Hominids skeleton. There are notable changes in the spinal cord, pelvis bone and legs. The chimpanzee does have the ability to walk upright and does, but it spends most of the time walking on four limbs. It uses it’s arms as it’s front legs and walks on it’s knuckles. Our brain capacity is about twice as large as that of the chimp. Humans have a brain capacity of 1300 to 1500 cc, while the chimps are about 600 - 800 cc. It is though by scientists that our brain size grew over time as were evolved into making complex tools and we became increasingly sophisticated. The human skull is slightly different from that of our primate ancest...